


Dog Drabble

by mozzarellastyx



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Dogs, Drabble, M/M, honestly idk what else to tag bc it's so short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 00:26:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5806126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozzarellastyx/pseuds/mozzarellastyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn didn't think he'd meet a boyfriend through his dog, but he also didn't think Rhino would run away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dog Drabble

**Author's Note:**

> ok this is short but I lov ziam w dogs so much so maybe I'll add to it idk

It’s a crisp October afternoon, leaves of yellows, oranges, and reds fluttering down from the trees in the light breeze, and Zayn’s having a bad day.

His wretched mood probably stemmed from Boris waking him up at an ungodly hour, whining and pawing at his arm until Zayn would let him outside, and then deciding he didn’t actually need to go. Then, there was his hair dryer debacle, ending with a messy-haired Zayn and the decision to wear a beanie the rest of the day. He’d spilled his coffee on the way to work, a shift he wasn’t even _scheduled_ to come in for but he has a hard time saying no to Caroline. And now, with his Saturday afternoon finally free, his dog has just taken a massive _shit_ on the sidewalk.

It’s not like that was the only place he could’ve gone, too. They’re in a bloody park. The place is basically just grass, a free field to run and shit about. But no, Boris decided he _must_ leave his droppings in possibly the worst place.

“Don’t know why I keep you around,” Zayn mutters, grabbing a crumpled up doggy bag from his jacket pocket. He doesn’t really mean this, of course; Boris was his first dog and his best friend for a long time. It’s just—well, sometimes it seems like he does this stuff on _purpose_ , like he’s spiting Zayn for not giving him an extra treat last night. He doesn’t look it, but that dog is freakishly smart.

His other dogs…less so.

“Stop, Harley,” Zayn warns as the dog pulls at the leash, eyed trained on a squirrel a few yards away. Zayn’s still squatting, trying to maneuver the leashes in his hand so he can pick up Boris’ lovely present, but Harley’s tugging is causing him to teeter.

Rhino barks on his left, crouched in a stance that tells Zayn’s he’s about to take off any second. Zayn knows his time is limited, but the leashes are all tangled around his wrist and he’s having trouble staying balanced and fixing them—

In the next moment, a leash slips away and all Zayn can do is tighten his grip on the remaining two so he doesn’t lose another. He stands, whipping around to see it was Rhino that sprinted off, chasing after a pigeon that takes off into flight before Rhino can get anywhere near it.

“Of fucking course,” Zayn mumbles, taking off with the other two dogs in tow, pile left forgotten on the sidewalk.

He only makes it a few steps, however, before Rhino’s dragging leash is caught by someone else. Zayn sees the figure running from his peripheral just before it snatches up the leash, keeping Rhino from trying to fly after the damn bird because the dog’s so stupid he probably would.

The figure, a guy, Zayn guesses from his build, jogs over to him, Rhino running alongside happily, pink tongue flopping about. He’s got another dog on his other side, too, a type of relative to the Husky, Zayn figures, from the pert ears and dark fur.

“This your dog?” The lad asks as he approaches, and Zayn can’t really answer at first because the guy is unfairly _hot_ and _cute_ at the same time, somehow, with his black Adidas hoodie and slouchy jeans and cheeks pink from the cold.

"Er, yeah, that’s Rhino,” Zayn nods, then blinks like an idiot because the lad didn’t ask for the name of the dog.

“Saw him escape,” the stranger admits, chuckling like he’s slightly embarrassed he mentioned it.

“Oh,” Zayn says dumbly.

“Rhino, you said?” the stranger mentions, handing Zayn the leash.

He takes it with a nod, accidentally brushing the lad’s hand and trying hard not to think about how soft it is even in the dry cold.

“I like it,” he continues with a friendly smile. “Fits him. He’s fearless.”

“Or just stupid,” Zayn sighs, shaking his head as he stares down at the puppy, panting contently.

The lad chuckles. “I’m Liam, by the way.”

Zayn looks up to see an extended hand, and he’s really glad he didn’t have time to pick up that shit now as he shakes it. “Zayn.”

“And this is Loki,” Liam adds, nudging his dog’s side lightly with his knee.

“Loki as in brother of Thor?” Zayn wonders with a growing grin.

“That’s the one,” Liam smiles, almost bashful, but doesn’t fail to maintain eye contact.

“Nice,” Zayn nods. “I’m quite the Marvel buff meself.”

Liam raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? Wouldn’t’ve reckoned.”

“Well I wouldn’t’ve reckoned you were either,” Zayn teases. “But yeah, I like anything super hero, really.”

“Wicked,” Liam breathes with a smile. “Me too.”

“Oh, uh, and this is Boris and Harley,” Zayn tells him.

“Harley like Harley Quinn?” Liam inquires.

“Davidson,” Zayn admits with a little shrug, reluctantly matching Liam’s smile.

“Ah, now see I could’ve coined you as a fan of that,” Liam nods, gesturing to Zayn’s leather jacket.

Zayn grins sheepishly. “’m not that obvious, am I?”

“No,” Liam assures him quickly, although he lets out a little chuckle. “But if you came here on a motorbike I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“How could I come here on a motorbike with my dogs?” Zayn wonders with the cock of an eyebrow, enjoying the way Liam squirms slightly.

“Good point,” he answers with a little shrug. “I guess I would be surprised, then.”

“Saving up for one, though,” Zayn adds, catching Liam’s gaze again.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Zayn nods, dragging the toe of his Doc through the muddy grass. “Easier to drive around the city than a car, and I’m getting proper sick of taking the bus everywhere.”

“And you’d look like a proper badass,” Liam comments thoughtfully.

Zayn chuckles. “What? I don’t now?”

Liam adds to Zayn’s laughs, smiling sheepishly and gripping at the back of his neck. “I take that back, you’d look even _more_ like a proper badass. Better?”

“Better.”

Liam stares at him for a moment before asking, “Would you maybe like to grab some coffee? It’s kind of getting nippy out and I—”

“Yeah,” Zayn nods, maybe a little too eagerly but he can’t help it. “I spilled my morning cup down my jeans earlier so coffee’d be really nice.”

“Great,” Liam says, looking a little relieved as they start making their way to the sidewalk, dogs in tow. Zayn promptly avoids the pile he failed to pick up earlier. He’s had enough shit for one day.

They make their way down the road a bit to a café with outdoor seating. Zayn stays out with the dogs while Liam goes inside to grab some drinks. Loki seems to have no problem fitting in with Zayn’s lot, sniffing at them with a friendly wag of his curved tail. Boris sits with his head resting on Zayn’s shoe but the other two sniff right back at Loki, wagging their tails as if having a conversation.

“Here you are,” Liam announces when he comes out, handing Zayn a to-go cup billowing steam in the cool air. He takes it graciously, using its warm surface to heat his cold fingers.

He waits for a few moments before taking a sip. It’s—not good. It takes an awful lot like tea, and Zayn was sure he ordered a coffee—

“What’s wrong?” Liam asks with concern. He takes a sip of his own drink, brows immediately furrowing in confusion.

“Think they’re mixed up,” Zayn mentions as if it isn’t totally obvious, handing his cup out to Liam to trade.

“Shit,” Liam frowns, giving Zayn his cup. “I’m sorry, I thought for sure she said this one was the coffee. Would you like me to get you a new lid? I can—”

“It’s no problem, Liam,” Zayn assures, stopping the lad from getting up. He takes a sip from his new drink, faint taste of cherry chapstick left on the lid. “Much better.”

Liam blinks at him for a second before taking a sip of his own. “I used to be a coffee drinker.”

Zayn looks at it him in interest, swallowing.

“But my roommate Louis’ really into tea so that’s all we have around the flat,” Liam continues with a shrug. “’m too lazy to buy my own coffee, so I just drink his tea. It’s quite good, actually, although I put loads of sugar in mine and he always frowns at me when I do. Can’t help it, though. ‘ve got a bit of a sweet tooth.”

“S’alright,” Zayn assures, setting his coffee on the tiny metal table between them so he can fix the tongue of his boot that’s folded in a weird way against his ankle. “No harm in a bit of sugar, yeah?”

Liam smiles bashfully, looking down at his drink. “Suppose.”

Suddenly, Harley lets out a bark and takes off. Which wouldn’t be that much of a problem except for the fact that his leash is tied around the base of the metal table, and his sudden movement causes it to tip and fall to the ground with a clang, startling the remaining dogs along with Zayn and Liam. Zayn’s coffee splashes on the concrete for the second time that day.

Harley doesn't make it far at all with the metal table behind him, and he comes trotting back dutifully as if he’d done Zayn a favor. Zayn frowns at him.

“I swear I need to get them in dog training classes,” Zayn mutters, helping Liam right the table again.

Liam chuckles. “Why’d you tie his leash to the table?”

“Because there wasn’t any more room to tie it on my chair,” Zayn pouts, showing Liam how the rest of the leashes were roped along the metal arms of his chair. “Wasn’t a very good idea, I reckon now…”

“Probably not,” Liam agrees with a light laugh, untying the leash from the table and tying it onto his own chair instead. “Nothing I wouldn’t’ve done, though.”

Zayn sighs, reaching down to pick up his soggy cup. Rhino and Loki lick at the puddle of coffee by his feet. “Two times in one day. Think that might be a record for me.”

Liam snorts. “Would you like a new one?”

“Nah,” he shakes his head, sitting back in his chair and watching the passing traffic. “Don’t want to risk another accident.”

“Fair,” Liam nods.

There’s a faint vibrate, and Zayn watches as Liam pulls a phone out of his trouser pocket. A shadow of a frown crosses his face as he reads it but disappears just as quickly as it appeared.

“I’ve got to run,” he informs with a heavy sigh, standing.

“Oh,” Zayn says, watching Liam for a moment before actually absorbing his words. He leans down to untie Loki from his chair, handing the lad the worn leather leash.

“But I’ll, uh, leave you my number? If that’s alright?”

Zayn blinks again before it registers that _Liam wants his number_.

“Oh, yeah,” Zayn nods hurriedly, fumbling with his phone. He swaps with Liam so he can type his number in with fingers shaky from the cold (or, at least, that’s what he’s telling himself).

“I’ll text you, then,” Liam says, slipping his phone back in his pocket and taking a reluctant step away.

“Please do,” Zayn says, then nearly cringes at how horribly desperate he sounds.

Liam just smiles, though. He squats down to say goodbye to the dogs, scratching them each behind the ears before standing back up and returning his attention to Zayn.

“I’ll see you, then,” he says with a curt nod and friendly smile.

“Bye, Liam,” Zayn says, waving his hand a little as Liam backs away.

He’s a good ten steps away before he waves back and finally turns around to make his way down the street.

And maybe Zayn’s day wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
